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Subject:RE. Have you seen this GUI element [...]? From:"Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA> To:"Techwr-L (E-mail)" <TECHWR-L -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 25 Feb 2000 08:29:08 -0500
Karen Peterson wonders <<My co-worker recently designed an interface with a
control that I am not familiar with, but I don't think he made it up. He has
what looks like a drop-down box, but instead of an arrow, the button at the
right has an
ellipsis. When you click the ellipsis, another window appears, allowing you
to select multiple values for the box.>>
I don't think I've ever seen the ellipsis (...) used as a button, but it is
part of the interface standard for both Mac and Windows: whenever a menu
choice gives you a series of options (i.e., a dialog box) rather than
immediately performing some function, the menu text is followed by the three
dots. Compare File->Save as... (where you have to provide a name and
directory) with File->Save (where the current name and directory are
assumed). On the whole, this interface choice isn't unreasonable, but
because it doesn't follow the prevailing interface standards, I'd think
twice about using it; labeling the button "options" or "settings" would be
more standard, and probably clearer too.
--Geoff Hart, Pointe-Claire, Quebec
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
"The paperless office will arrive when the paperless toilet
arrives."--Matthew Stevens
